Review of ReLIFE

The shows strongest aspect is how it handles different issues that people may face in their youth, ways in how one can deal with them, and how that relates to similar issues one may face later in life. It does a great job exploring those issues in a personal way that's easy to relate to, or feel sympathy for if you can't personally relate. There are a handful of issues that are keeping this from being a 9, although I'm pretty sure the Final Arc special will fix some of the issues I have (or at least I hope so). For starters, the show reallyshould have been twice as long as it was. Being 26 episodes really would've given the time needed for the story to explore even more similar issues, and really build this idea of becoming a different person from the ReLife program. While it doesn't feel rushed and the ideas explored were done very gracefully, I feel it was a bit of a missed opportunity and lacked the satisfying feeling it really could have brought from it. I suppose the other issues I had with the show we're more personal gripes, like I felt the story progression relied a bit too heavily on the right person just so happens to be at the right place at the right time and just so happens to know a specific piece of information. I also disliked how the show kinda relays this popular narrative that high school is this great experience and that adult life is inevitably worse. While true that there's unique aspects in being a student that generally doesn't apply to adulthood, like being surrounded by your friends everyday for example, there are also a lot of aspects of being in high school that I don't miss at all and I'm happy to have certain freedoms that adulthood grants me. So this narrative that sort of envies being in high school just kinda bugs me, especially since a lot of the things people miss about it, being spontaneous, lively, creative, enjoying time with friends, experiencing new things, and more, are all things still very attainable in adult life if one purposely tries to live a life with those things. It's just that a lot of adults give up on these things, settle for the status quo, while convinced it's just a thing of their past. That's a sad life, and as someone who tries to never regret anything and strives to always be learning, I wish this narrative wouldn't be so prevalent in media. I understand in context to the protagonist it makes sense to take on this view and discuss issues in the show from this direction, but even so, it could've been better to lean more into this redemption aspect of the protagonist in a more optimistic view and really explores what that means and how that can be overcome by our protagonist. Anyway, a really great watch none the less.